See The Fast Track for fasting in Judaism.

Fasting Throughout The Ages

Fasting is an almost universal phenomenon within both Eastern and Western cultures. Over the centuries, abstaining from food has, of course, been undertaken by many for a variety of reasons, a significant one of which is religious.

The custom of fasting is found in many ancient cultures, and is often associated with rites of mourning. This has led scholars to equate its origins with the custom whereby friends and relatives leave with the dead the food that they would have consumed, so that the deceased might have nourishment in an afterlife.

In earlier cultures, it was found that fasting could induce a state of susceptibility to visions and dreams and give the individual access to a spiritual world. Certain mystery cults also incorporated fasting as part of the ritual preparation for the sleep that would provide answers to the individual's specific needs and questions. The ideology behind this was that since the soul was influenced by diet, it could only receive unconfused dreams by frugal living and the avoidance of meat. Judaism shared the view that fasting could induce trance-like states through which revelations would occur.

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Islam
Hinduism and Buddhism
Fasting as Penance and Purification
Fasting as Supplication
Fasting Nowadays

Christianity
Although formalized fasting was not favored in the New Testament, it eventually became the preferred ascetic practice of the desert dwellers and monastic men and women who saw it as a necessary measure to free the soul from worldly attachments and desires. Within Christian tradition there gradually developed seasonal fasts such as the period of Lent, forty days before Easter, Rogation days in spring in supplication for good crops, and Ember Days, days of prayer and fasting during each of the four seasons of the year. There were also weekly fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays and fasts prior to solemn occasions celebrating important moments in people's lives, for example baptism, ordination to priesthood, admission to knighthood, and reception of the Eucharist.

With the rapid growth of ascetic movements in the first and second centuries, fasting also became an important means of ridding the body of its attachment to material practices and pleasures, thus enabling the individual to attain the higher good and become closer to the divine soul. Monastics were warned to avoid excessive fasting, which could bring harm to both body and soul.

Islam
In the Islamic tradition, Moslems continue to observe the ninth month, Ramadan, as one of rigorous fasting (sawm) during which days no liquid or food is allowed to be consumed between dawn and sunset, as stipulated in the Qur'an. Some of the stricter Moslem groups also fast every Monday and Thursday, and the Qur'an recommends additional fasting for the purpose of communing with the divine. The Shi'i Muslims require fasting as one of the ways of commemorating the martyrdom of 'Ali, the son-in-law of the prophet, and his two sons.

Hinduism and Buddhism
Hindu and Jain ascetics fasted while on pilgrimage and in preparation for certain festivals. Within classical Chinese religious practice, ritual fasting preceded the time of sacrifices. Although the Buddha taught moderation rather than excessive fasting, many Buddhist nuns and monks adhered to the custom of eating only one meal per day, and they were obliged to fast on days of new and full moon. Among modern-day Buddhists, it is more common to fast and confess one's sins four times a month.

Fasting as Penance or Purification
Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian customs included ritualized fasting as a form of penance that accompanied other expressions of sorrow for wrongdoing. In later times, nations also came to view fasting as the means of atoning for faults and sins and thus turning away the wrath of the gods. In the Book of Jonah, for example, the Assyrians are depicted as covered in sackcloth, weeping, fasting and praying to God for forgiveness.

Fasting as Supplication
Within Judaism, fasting was one way of "bending the ear of God", of asking God to turn to the Jews in mercy and grant them the favor requested. Within the Christian ascetic circles, fasting was viewed as one of the more meritorious acts, which exorcised demons and demonic temptation from the individual's consciousness. Fasting emerged within Christianity as a potent force in calling down God's mercy and as an aid in ridding the individual of worldly temptation. In the Qur'an, fasting as supplication to God is considered worthwhile only if one also abandons false words and deeds.

Fasting Nowadays
Although Buddhists generally favor moderation in eating habits, and many consider fasting a non-Buddhist practice, it is listed as one of the thirteen Buddhist practices that can serve as an aid to leading a happy life, and as a means of purification. It is for this reason that many Buddhist monks have the custom of eating only one meal of day. For other Buddhists the renunciation of wrong ideas and viewpoints were considered the more likely keys to enlightenment.

Nowadays, Christian denominations demonstrate a variety of opinions about fasting. Most Protestants leave fasting to the discretion of the individual, while even within the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches, rigid fasting practices have been abolished, although Roman Catholics still fast at least a little and abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.